A Week of Spring Cleaning

The urge to clean our personal spaces, wherever they may be, is quite strong during the Spring and Summer seasons, isn't it?  Some are inclined to wash windows, clean out closets, garages and basements, scrub walls or conduct an overall purge.

To hear my children tell it, I love to throw give things away... makes me wonder how or why I ever acquired these things in the first place.  You've heard it before, "...well it seemed like a good idea at the time."  But I've pretty much done most of my 'Spring Cleaning' at home and at the office, so what next? Oh I know, what about an internal cleanse!   The options I've considered were juicing or fasting (no, they're not the same in my book), or going RAW.  I chose the latter and have committed to it for a full week beginning Monday, July 23rd thru Sunday, July 29th. The last time I went RAW was 5 yrs ago, for a period of 90 days.

RAW?  Why?

You mean, aside from my personal belief that a raw and living vegan diet is the best diet for humans?  Some of the benefits I've personally experienced when eating a raw and living diet:

• added nutritional value
• mental clarity
• renewed energy
• improved digestion
• waste/toxin removal
• and countless other benefits

RAW?  How?  A raw and living vegan diet consists of eating unprocessed fruit, vegetables, sprouted nuts and seeds in their raw form and preferably live when possible.  These foods are not heated above the body's temperature in order to preserve the precious enzymes that they contain.  Added oils, conventional condiments and salt are usually avoided.

Some of the meals I plan to eat consist of large colorful hearty salads, smoothies and a host of delicious live meals.  Here are some pics of today's dishes:

Raw Spegetti

Cabbage Leaf Wrap

I've been preparing for this week for the past 3 weeks, initially eating 50:50 (raw:cook ratio) and ending with a week of eating 1 cooked meal a day and all other meals being live.

With a host of supporters in my cheering section, I'm sure to succeed.  I'm excited about this challenge to say the least.  Stay tuned for some quick yummy recipes!

Ready, Set, Goooooooo!